Friday Oct. 23, 2009- Taster's Choice and 49er (Blewett, BC

Friday Oct. 23, 2009- Taster's Choice and 49er (Blewett, BC)

Taking another leisurely morning to get going here in Nelson, BC.  We had an impromptu dinner party last night w/ Leslie and Stephanie showing up after the girls yoga practice ended.  Vince and I whipped up a bomber veggie lasagna w/ some unwieldy noodles that did not want to cook.  Al dente!!  Yesterday Vince was gracious enough to shuttle me up the Blewett area.  I got 2 laps on Taster's Choice (once from the top top), and 1 lap on 49er.  Both were fun and pedaly in sections.  Taster's had a really smooth FSR to drive up on (bonus!!).  We went up 11k and then I pushed my bike through a short road section that had a TON of fallen logs on it.  I angled towards the edge of the clearing and sure enough, there was a sign on the tree....."Taster's Choice."  I'll be damned!!  BIking is crazy like that......where else do you wander aimlessly up FSR's in search of a little parting of the bushes on the side of the road?!!  It started out fun w/ some pedaly sections.  Once it got ripping I had the funniest thing happen.....Kinda......2 snarling good sized dogs came leaping out of a blind corner!!  They scared the shit out of me!!  And they weren't going away easily!!  I was screaming at the top of my lungs..."GET BACK!!" over and over.  The gray one was taking some snaps at me!!  I'm trying to ride my bike AND fend off these dogs!!  Then I heard a silent whistle blow and they abated for a moment before resuming their snarling chase of me.  After a few more snaps I heard the whistle again and they circled back.  My adrenaline was pumping HARD!!  For a moment I was disoriented and thought I had passed my intended trail.  Then I kept riding and found the next spur.  There were some wide open jumps made of wood (shooters) that were pretty fun (I was surprised to see built stuff this far up in the mountains!!).  After a multitude of false summit climbing I crested out and began descending for a LONG time!!  There were a few hairy sections and one zone that I had to go around completely!!  It looked like a rock drop into some loose crappy runout that I almost onsighted.  Then I got off the bike and went over and actually looked at it.  It was an easy 10+' drop into some roots and loose rocks.  I didn't want it that bad (especially by myself!!).  I did hit everything else on the trail onsight.  Then it got steeper and rockier and crossed the road a few times.  I thought it was done.  Nope!!  Keep going.....taking a L or R when you hit a road, then back into the trail- sometimes very nondescript.  THEN I went back up again- this time only to the 8k marker for the "all down" ride.  I rode the second lap a lot faster and more confidently- and still didn't do the rock drop move!!  3rd move here that I haven't done (The crack on Paperbag, Kinrade's carazy hip jump on Pulmonary, and this).  It was still light out and I talked Vince into taking a drive up Copper Mountain to check out 49er.  The road wound through some old farms and then onto a road w/ a TON of No Trespassing signs.  It had to be the right road so we kept going.  An older man and a dog were walking and we came to a stop.  The man turned out to be friendly and told us "don't cut any firewood!!".  No worries!!  

About half of a mile later the road turned nasty.  Waterbars, huge puddles, rocks, washed out veins in the road, etc.  You know what?  The 'yota rallied to the occasion and we were able to make it all the way up!!  There was substantial damage to the bumper in the way of a flapper of metal (it's pretty rusty) that was pointing out ruthlessly....watch those shins!!  What a beast!!  

The trail was really fun w/ a bunch of log ride stunts that were pretty well built.  I was pretty amazed that there were that many stunts out in the middle of frickin nowhere!!  The run was divided into 3 sections and ended at a spur road that I climbed up and met Vince.  That trail was really well maintained and had a BUNCH of trees cut out (lots of downfall!!).  It was a lot of side-hilling, but had a good flow.  Then there were the obligatory steepies that define the Kootenay riding!!  We ended the day by the above mentioned dinner party!!  Life is good!!  

Monday Oct. 19th- N. Shore Trails (Nelson) and Goldmember

Monday Oct. 19th Lily was gracious enough to play shuttle driver.  We rallied up to Giveout Creek FSR then onto Gold Creek FSR and up to Goldmember (I had tried to get up there previously but it was too icy).  We bailed on Upper Goldmember and I dropped in.  It was a really fun trail, faster than most in Nelson.  A few logrides for good measure.  I beat Lily back down!!  Then Lily decided to bail on the afternoon yoga class (anatomy) and cruise over to the N. Shore w/ me.  We stopped at North Shore Naturals shop and bought a couple of turkey paninis that were dank.  The woman and her little girl were just chilling out at the shop.  Looked like a cozy gig!!  

We rallied up Kokanee Glacier Road, then onto Benson Creek FSR and over to Newtsac.  Again the yota rallied hard, but I still hiked it up past a good number of menacing waterbars.  The trail was fun and not quite as crazy as I remembered it.  The top was a little "slidey" and loose w/ a good number of rock slabs to negotiate.  There were also a good few sections of woodwork and logrides.  All in all a great trail!!  Then it was onto Shitaker!!  It started off w/ a cool rock roll then into a burnt, hollow 1/2 log that was pretty steep!!  A sharp berm was built out of it, then a little transfer jump, berm, stepdown, then hip jump.  Lily took a few pics that came out great!!  The next move was a stepdown that went under a downed tree, into a nice step-up.  I overshot it the first time and landed on the log lining the trail!!  I jumped off the bike seamlessly and ran it out!!  Great crash when you don't crash!!  I went back up and did the whole line again.  It had another few rock slabs and some flowy sections before hitting the ending section shared by the other two trails in the area- Nooner and Morning Sickness.  It had a super fun logride that went for a ways into a drop then a steepish section into a brapper of a L (uphill).  Pretty cool!!  Then there was a steep finishing section that I triple dropped and got a little buckwild on (into a prayer of a R corner that I somehow made!!).  Lily dropped me back off on Morning Sickness and I rallied the series of sweet, slightly overgrown rock roll features that defined the trail.  I really liked the moves and was stoked that I rode it!!  It ended on the same lower trail.  One more time back up to the top and finished off w/ Nooner which had a bunch of steepies and a few log rides and rock faces.  WOW what a day!!  As always a delicious dinner back at the Cottonwood Ave residence to cap off the night!!  

Awakener (Oct. 16th, 2009)

Friday Oct. 16th, 2009

Met up w/ Mia, Mark (owner of Sacred Ride), and Simon (Devinci rep) for a morning lap.  We rode "middle" Highballer to Placenta Descenta to the Rise and Fry to Wake and Bake to the "old" Pulmonary to complete the old school morning according to Mark.  I followed Mia for a while and at 40 she was RIPPING!!  Good to see!!  We pedaled back to the shop a few kilometers and I got some new pedals and brake levers since my carbon ones finally got smashed.  Bill- 179$.  Who said freeriding was free?!!  Got in touch w/ Simon who was headed out to Castelgar.  He phoned up Trent Z. and I picked up Josh and we headed to Robson and up Rialto FSR 9k.  We dropped into the trail and immediately there was a 5, 10, 15, 20, then 25' wood to dirt jump line- shooters more than booters.  We checked em oot then sessioned them up proper like a few times.  There were a few sweet DH sections that were fast and flowy w/ nice berms.  In no specific order we rode the huge step-up (new) line off to the R, then there was the nice rock gap (15+') that flowed into an uphill wood roller onto a huge log-ride (elevated) section that ends up going out straight for a while, then off a nice 8'+ drop into a 15' creek gap that I onsighted.  Pretty stoked on that line!!  Nobody else tried it.  Same went for a long logride section that was kind of slick looking but was fine, I just took it rather slow.  There was then another uphill logride onto a log that had a turn then another lobber off wood onto a steep wooden landing- super rad.  We hit that a couple times.  Then there was the fateful gap transfer line that didn't go well for Josh.  He got buckwild and landed hard on his shoulder sustaining a serious AC separation.  I took him to the hospital and drove him back to his house, bought pizza and had a few beers w/ him.  I knew he was bummed but we laughed about the day and traded stories over some bomb ass Mediterranian 57 Pizza.  "Some times you summit, sometimes you plummet!!"  Awakener was by far my overall favorite trail so far this trip.  Super fun freeride line w/ some nice jumps and amazingly solid construction.  Gonna have to flow the whole trail before I split out of town!!  

..

RIP Pat Dolan

RIP Pat Dolan

I was informed that a close friend has passed on.  Pat Dolan fought a long and courageous fight with breast cancer.  Her will was strong and her heart sure of its love.  She will be missed.  I can remember a lot of stories...... Like putting my arm through her glass door and getting stitches.  Late night parties as a child....mingling w/ tons of people and crashing out w/ the action still swinging strong.  Beating on her drums on the Friday ritual w/ my mama.  Going to Dolan's and then onto the W. 25th St. market.....back then an open aired multi-lingual intermingling of many walks of life.  Sampling various flavors and aromas.  She received an obvious outpouring of love and friendship for which I'm sure she was grateful.  You will forever be in our thoughts and souls Dolan.  

Pics of "Balls Deep"- Nelson, BC

Tues. Oct. 13, 2009- Paper Bag and Bedframe

Woke up at a leisurely 10:30 today, and greeted Lily who was finishing up her morning session of yoga.  She gave me a ride up Svoboda Rd as far as possible before the gate.  I then pushed and rode up for another 30 min to the top of Paper Bag.  Hailed as one of Nelson's best rides I didn't quite know what to expect seeing as the other black diamonds have been pretty damn techy!!  It turned out to be a bit "pedaly" with techy rock moves in between.  There was one move that I didn't do.  It was an alternate line off to the L that I started down.  Then it rode out a very exposed ridge of rock into a small drop in steep terrain then pinning it out in a tight rock section w/ a stump right in the middle.  It was burly!!  The trail had a few good steep sections and lots of rock rolls/slabs.  A very cool trail indeed.  Definitely not my favorite, but good nonetheless.  I'd come back w/ a group and hit that one move (can you say photogenic line?!!!).  Then I pedaled back 5-6k along the railroad grade.  I was way past the orange bridge that takes you across the Kootenay Lake to the N. Shore of Nelson.  I pedaled back to the house and grabbed the truck.  I wanted to get one more run in since the weather was definitely rolling in and my knee felt great!!  I drove up hwy 6 to Giveout Creek FSR, then to Gold Creek FSR.  I was looking to do Goldmember.  I was going to pedal back to town and get a ride up from Vince.  Then it started to get icy.  There was steep section after steep section on the fire road and it was white.  Luckily there was still gravel sticking up enough to give ample traction.  I still backed off after a few too many steep frosty sections to negotiate.  Plus I didn't want to ride a frozen trail the whole time!!  I drove back up Giveout Creek FSR up to 7K mark.  I called Vince and arranged a pick-up at the bottom of Pulmonary on Hwy 3 at Grohnan Narrows Park.  I then proceeded to rip Bedframe.  What a fun trail!!  Steep and rocky w/ tons of rock rolls and flowy DH sections.  I crossed the road and rode Pulmonary (the "short" version this time).  Another unique trail that rolls down rock slab after rock slab.  I ran into Mike Kinrade's hip jump and just shook my head in amazement.  Just when you think you can hit jumps you run into something like this.  You roll down a rock face then start back up another one, then hit a hip booster built of wood off the top of the rock.  The landing is around 25-30' away and is on the same rock formation that you take off of!!  It was silly.  I rode the remaining slabs to the bottom which had a sweet exit move into the abandoned construction zone.  I pushed back up the road for a second and hit the end move on another trail.  Short roll, track stand tight corner, roll down some rocks piled up w/ mega exposure, track stand, turn L, rock slab chute.  A very cool move indeed!!  

Vince then graciously picked me up and gave me a ride back up to my truck.  We both met back at the house and we made turkey tacos w/ Vince's fresh peach, avocado, tomato salsa.  Vince and I then worked on the girls (they owe us for another time since they're beat from yoga!!) w/ thai yoga in the living room.  That stuff is cool and delivers great results.  I wish more people knew about thai yoga massage because it kicks ass!!  Looks like rain and snow tonight and tomorrow.  Hopefully I'll get some more good days to ride this trip!!

NELSON!!

 Oct. 10th, 2009

Today I woke up at 510 Cottonwood Ave. in Nelson, BC!!  The bed was comfy and larger than we've been used to.  Lily was awake early, obviously excited to start yoga teacher training.  I slept a little while longer, then got up and had delicious coffee and french toast.  We hung out w/ our new roomies Vince and Marie and had good conversation before they went for a morning walk.  Lily shuttled me up Giveout Creek FSR to Bedframe.  The road was pretty mellow and we were able to make it up 7-8K quick.  Lily walked down to the lookout and we hung out for a minute before parting ways.  The trail was more techy than I remember and I had to negotiate a number of steep rock moves.  It was a super fun trail and I rallied out onto the road and tried to find Pulmonary.  Instead I got going down Skier's Right and was wondering when the steep slabs were going to show up.  Instead it was fun and flowy w/ a number of transfer moves onto woodwork.  I came out at the bottom and luckily ran into a group of 3 riders that were setting a shuttle.  Jeff and his buddies were cool and we rode up a gnarly 4x4 road to get to lower Powerslave.  It was a super wicked trail that was slightly frosty/snowy but hooked up great.  It had a number of steep wooden whoopdies that were pretty tall!!  A couple of them were off-camber.  We blazed out of that trail and down to Placenta Descenta that passes nearby Blewitt Ski Area.  It was fun and had a good number of rock gardens to negotiate.  It definitely wasn't as steep as Bedframe!!  It came out across from Pulmonary.  This time we actually got on the right trail.  Momentarily.  The sign reads "long L and short R."  I'm thinking longer is better and blaze L.  Too bad it was a completely different trail!!  It traversed back and forth and back and forth......

It was really cool because it milked the hell out of the terrain and was mostly mossy rock slabs (low angle).  We came out down the road from the exit of Pulmonary and pedaled back to the bottom truck.  I milked another ride up and rode The Gimp for the grand finale.  I was riding along thinking how sweet it was, loamy top section through some larger trees, steep but fun, surfy.  Then it just turned much more gnarly all of a sudden.  I was super stoked to ride it all, minus that one instance where I got flung off the bike.  I slammed my R tibial tuberosity and it hurt pretty bad even w/ the pads on!!  There were a few logrides that I nailed.  Super rad trail overall.  Definitely the gnarliest trail I've ridden here so far.  I rode back to the house, and Lily and Marie made a super yummy tofu veggie stir-fry w/ quinoa.  I think I can get used to this........Except for that R knee pain!!

Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009

Driving to Tonasket WA after spending this morning in Vancouver at Leslie and John's house.  Saturday I drove up to Vancouver and crashed at John's.  We hooked up w/ Colin, Steve (from Cove Bike Shop), and ?? who also rode a Cove STD.  We rode a couple of CBC to Pangor/Pingu and Boogieman laps.  I started off feeling strong but quickly fell into survival mode.  John was ripping and I let him lead most of the time.  I took a couple of diggers on those laps- one off the waterfall at the bottom of Empress (hesitated then got tangled up w/ bike in the air).  The other one was after the logride to wheeliedrop then hard R.  I crossed up the bars and took a nice charliehorse to the leg.  THEN we rode Hangman.  I forgot how gnarly that trail is!!  The other times I rode it w/ Brad I felt solid but not this time!!  I rode well, then wasn't feeling one of the rock drops.  John hit it (for the first time)  and after a couple of aborted run-ins I sent it.......right into a tree (got bucked when I landed).  I jumped off the bike JUST in time!!  Then I fell boosting off a log after a super gnarly chute.  I was laughing before I even skidded out.  I hit the new-ish trail off to the R w/ the couple jumps, and John went straight.  We didn't run into each other for a few minutes as I started climbing out when he wasn't there.  I felt WRECKED after that day.  Probably b/c of the events from the past Wednesday (Lily shuttling me at N. Fork solo w/ helmet cam), and Friday (riding w/ Owen, Woods, and ??).  That was the nearly fateful day where we got the pleasure to ride upper Dirt Renyold and the unfortunate finding of two trees down on the landing of Hell's Kitchen (8' drop to 20-25' stepdown).  We were in a train w/ Owen up front, me behind him filming, and Woods behind me.  Owen is charging out in front and IN THE AIR I hear a "oh shit!!!"  To my horror I look up and see the trees in the landing just as he crashed through some branches and starts tumbling.  I come in hot and crash through the limbs, get squirrely, then run over owen and his bike and wreck.  Woods somehow landed, and was able to avoid us!!  I walked away w/ the worst of it.....a gnarly gash on my L shin.  I think it was either a pointy branch, pedal, or rock.  We walked around stunned and x'd off the drop/jump so nobody repeated the feat.  We split out after cleaning out our pants.  I went back to Tom's house and cleaned out my leg.  Nothing to butterfly or stitch.  Just a big gouge.  I wrapped it up and put on some antibiotic stuff.  Gonna have to keep that one clean!!!  

Fast forward back to Monday- John, Lily, Christiaan, and I head up to Whistler.  I felt like death warmed over and wasn't  even sure I was gonna ride.  Lily didn't have a bike since Woods stiffed her on a bike loaner.  Turned out to be a kick ass day regardless.  Lily rented a Rocky Mountain Flatline and we raged it pretty hard for 5 hrs.  I got Lily on helmet cam ripping it hard on Ninja Cougar and Angry Pirate as well as A line.  I also got a good few of John ripping the trails up.  We also ran into Boomer and Julie and took a few laps w/ them.  Julie was a ripper and was 2 seconds behind on A line hot laps....impressive indeed seeing as she was less than a year out of a broken neck.  Boomer was ripping it hard as usual, especially for a 51 yr old!!  John and Christiaan bailed back to Vancouver and Lily and I chilled at Boomer's w/ Julie- had pesto pasta and watched bike porn- and ate local Gelatto.  We camped out at the usual chill camp spot toward Pemberton.  

The next morning we woke up, had coffee at camp, then cruised to Pemberton and had breakfast at the Wildwood Cafe after checking in at the LBS (local bike shop).  Lily and I devoured lumberjack breakfasts complete w/ sausage AND bacon (surely not vegan or vegetarian!!).  Funny how I can eat like an angel for months then break into full "whatever" mode on a dime (just add road trip and bikes).  We then drove over to the Mackenzie Trails (the local gnar gnar zone).  I drove the 'Yota up some gnarly fire roads and water bars until it didn't seem smart to have it in the current predicament.  I turned it around on an uphill w/o a turnaround (which is a feat in my truck).  I then grabbed my bike, said goodbye to Lily and pushed up for another 30 minutes to the cell phone towers (after making a few good choices on road splits).  After poking around I found a trail but it went uphill.  I called the shop and found the trail back down the road a bit.  Gravitron started w/ a gap jump, then went right into the business......mega loose steepies between trees.  It was certainly epic.  I was given all that I could handle a few times but didn't wreck or walk anything.  I was pretty stoked, but didn't find Bob Gnarly and ended up riding Overnight Sensation to Blood Sweat and Fear.  Both of those were single blacks but were still steep and rocky.  Lily shuttled me back up to the hang glider launch which had stelar views of the valley and local jagged snow-capped mountain peaks.  I then rode Cop Killer which started off w/ steep loose sections, then had a dead tree climb-over section, then rock rolls, steep off camber loose chutes, and a WTF rock chute move that I almost blindly rolled into.  You started off on top of a cliff band, skidded around a steep corner, then plunged into a narrow chute w/ rock on both side and a root weave through the middle with a microwave sized rock in the worst position possible at the bottom- into a loose steepie then a loose rock built up berm.  Contestant for "gnarliest move ever seen!!!"  It then traversed the mountain in a talus field w/ exposed off camber rock slabs and generally uber-techical moves strung together.  Quite the riding experience!!  It dropped out on an empty road that I pedaled back past a old cabin and along the river to the truck.  I finished off the day shuttling Lily on Over Night Sensation and BSnF.  She had a little trouble finding the entrance and I waited mid-way for a bit taking pictures of the amazing mountain ranges that permeate throughout the valley.  We rolled back into town and got a six pack, then progressed to chug 2 each before dinner......ahhhhh!!  We ate at The Pony- shwanky pub kinda gig.  I had an organic burger that I didn't even need ketchup for (first?!).  We rolled back to the camp spot and passed out in a state of bliss.  

It was cold the next AM and we didn't really want to get out of the back of the truck.  We finally got motivated and went to Creekside for some Southside Diner action.  They have great coffee (fair trade, organic).  We then swooped by Boomer's and hung out for a bit.  Lily rented a Specialized Demo 8 and we ripped the park for 5-6 hrs.  It was fun as usual and we met up w/ Boomer later in the day for some dueling helmet cams.  He got some sweet footie of me doing A-line, Dirt Merchant, and Schleyer.  I rode South of Heaven w/ Lily (she rode most of it, minus the rock roll to hole to chunder).  Another brilliant day at Whistler!!  We swung through the skate park, had a beer, and ran into the local BMX hook up, Dave.  Then to the grocery store, and Boomers for Turkey burgers.  We pulled out kind of late, but made it back to Vancouver by 11.  Woke up to the in-house vacuum at J n Leslie's.  Hung out for a bit, messed w/ Lily's Nova which didn't want to start, then drove to Bellingham.  We re-packed the truck at Tom's, I worked on Lily and Tom's backs, we pounded a bunch of espresso, ate and got groceries at the Public Market, dropped the car off at Dana's (on Electric Ave- sweet house), and started yet another driving mission.  This one to Tonasket (where Lily grew up), where they're holding the Barter Fair this weekend.  Then off to Nelson in the AM!!  Lily starts yoga teacher training on Saturday.  I get the distinct honor of hanging out, reading, riding my bike, doing yoga, and CHILLIN!!  Should be a fun few weeks!!  Then it looks like back to Port Angeles to work at OMC for a little while!!  Stay tuned!!

Ohio Visit!!

Sept. 28th, 2009

Just sitting in the airport terminal....early this time since my trip here almost didn't happen due to tardiness.  Had a nice lunch w/ my Mama, Gramps, and Phyllis today in N. Olmsted.  We chatted about various trips we had taken and what we've been up to.  I'm happy for Gramps since he is more active than ever recently, although Grammy can never be replaced.  I got to see Dale and Patricia first after getting off the plane.  They had accrued a good amount of the China cabinets and various antiques from the house on Cottonwood Trail.  Their house was beautifully adorned with woodworking, artwork, and old pictures from the family.  I showed them a bunch of pics and the couple short vids I have (biking, boarding).  Dale said he wanted to change jobs if he could, but wasn't in a position to, and was currently unable to think about college (and didn't know what he wanted to study if he could anyways).  He always says things like "nothing exciting" when I ask him what he's been up to lately.  It's funny because it seems like he thinks I live on the edge of a cliff the whole time or something!!  I then hung out with my mom for a few days....first night at Chris's house....on his birthday.  I made them a cous cous tempeh veggie dish, then we chowed some cake and ice cream later that night.  Next we went into Lakewood to get some Phoenix coffee.  As a bonus to the Mexican mocha which was decadent, I got to see my cousin Joe.  He was doing various contractor pieces- tile, HVAC, framing, etc.  He seemed to be doing well and we shared some laughs.  I guess James is in Europe traveling around solo style since he got laid off.  After that, on the way home, we hiked for a little bit on the edge of a huge lake.  Later that night I gave mumsley a 2 hr Thai Yoga Massage which she liked overall, but probably not while I was doing it for some gnarly spots she had.  She made me some late night pasta w/ veggies in a homemade tomato-veggie sauce (w/ buckwheat noodles).  We woke up the next, ate some zucchini bread and drank some dank ass Phoenix coffee.  We then proceeded to the garage where we took on the task of rearranging one side of the garage.  We checked out some doors and moved some wood and marble to make a direct path to the "door pile."  We also made some room to get right to her tools, which may or may not stay around (she offered them to a friend so they can both use them).  It was a bit emotional, but I can imagined how difficult it is to look at a garage full of various tasks and jobs that feel overwhelming.  Nonetheless, we made a pretty solid dent in the garage and for that I felt really good walking away from it.  We showered up and went to Laura and Marks to have some dinner and visit.  Laura laid out a huge dinner of mostly vegan dishes, w/ the exception of a chicken noodle soup that was delicious.  I was surprised that Kirby looks like he started shooting steroids (bigger than Benjamin), and Sam is the tallest one in the family now!!  Claire was bossing Laura around like it was her job and I chuckled at the family dynamic throughout the night.  Gramps and Phyllis were there and we made them stay out so late (10ish) that Phyllis's daughter called to make sure they were alright!!  We had a great time chatting it up on the "as usual" diverse range of topics, most of them spinning out of control into chuckling chaos.  We cruised back to Daddy-o's after dinner and two delicious pies- one of which I was shocked to hear had a "true Oreo crust" on it!!  My how times have changed.....my mom is smoking hand rolled "organic as she might point out" cigarettes, and Laura is now using Oreos in her cooking.......shocking!!  We got into N. Olmsted kind of late, but my dad and I ended up chatting until 3:30 am!!  We got up around 10ish (at least I did), and goofed around the house most of the day, we played w/ the motorcycles a bit (mine had all the plastics off of it...even the front which I never took off).  I guess the carbs were not quite right, and we got it started a few times, but it never really wanted to stayed running.  Daddy called Mark Parkinson from Cadiz and he decided to come up and give us a hand.  He figured out that the alcohol that they used to clean out the gas tank leaked down into the crank case and was being slowly expelled through the air box.  It was basically choking itself out.  Mark removed the gas tank most of the way and let the bike run (which it did!!) for a while to burn off the alcohol.  They also drained the oil, then put it all back together as I visited w/ Corrie.  She is doing well, now with a little boy (Jared) on top of Madeline, who is now a sassy young girl.  Wonder how she got to be THAT way?!!  We caught up for a while outside as Mark lounged inside around their big screen TV that Corrie states is her favorite thing to do while chowing some Doritos.  My my!!  Got the quick Berea update-  Glen Caddell- married w/ a kid now.  Nicole is in N. Carolina.  Kate is married and already found out that she was getting cheated on.....oh and she's pregnant?!!!  Nicole Stakowsky married Nate Sol.  Married and kids it is.....including Andy-man who now has TWO.  YIKES!!  I volunteered to cook and made up some fresh pesto from the garden (that is taking over the back yard!!!), then mixed it w/ chicken, and veggies I got from the Amish veggie stand.  Mark stayed over and we didn't burn the midnight oil too much (1am).  

The next day Daddy, Mark, and I ate a an omelette, then I went and got the license plate and tags from the DMV.  Now the bike was go time!!  Mark and Daddy took it around the block a couple of times to make sure it was safe.  Then I cruised it around the block.....man what a sweet feeling!!  Mark bailed and daddy and I went to On The Edge Motorsports (formerly Penton's).  Dale is still owner and busy man, even w/ the market sucking as he put it.  The plan was to get a loaner helmet so I didn't have to rock the American flag helmet that almost got tossed out a few different times.  Dale pulled out a Shoei helmet w/ Goldwing on the side and I immediately made my dad try it on.  It fit like a glove.  He told me he'd give it to me for a hundred bucks.  I didn't hesitate in taking it!!  It said 450$ on the box!!!  We poked around the upstairs antique bike gallery and then caught up w/ Aaron McDermitt (now Baldizzi).  He's about the same w/ a few more gray hairs poking out.  He's running his own trucking business and seems to be doing alright.  He told me he had a Buell 1200 for the past few yrs, but is now down to a CRF400 and a couple of 50's.  Daddy and I cruised around for a bit (about 55 miles in all), and ended up over at Jim and Eileen's.  Got to visit w/ the Waite's for a bit- Jim just got a full dresser HD, Eileen is working at Safeway b/c she got laid off from GM, Jimmy (21 yo)  is tall and Michael is still pretty chilled out.  The girls are in HS and are still rascals.  

The next morning Daddy O and I went to Athens.  It was rainy and windy for sections of the drive.  The leaves were just starting to change colors and there wasn't a ton of bright colors (which I miss about Ohio).  We showed up and got in touch w/ Jeroch and James.  Jeroch is doing a wedding (is a Reverend) at the Fur Peace Ranch (first wedding there).  He did the floral arrangement, and got a great response from the couple, Jorma, and everyone else- including a few hundred dollar tip!!  We chowed some lunch at Casa as he finished up the ceremonies and had a beer at The Pub (watching college FB).  We dropped in at Jeroch's place and was surprisingly refreshed at how badass of a place they have up on Fairview near the old Highland abode.  They're "taking care of it for friends for a year."  We then boogied out to James's house where things really haven't changed much.  We did some work on each other (James pelvis is all jacked up and Curina's back wanted to arch on ab exercises, even though she teaches pilates).  Jeroch ended up working on my dad, and Curina gave me a cold stone neck massage which reminded me of what I do to myself when I dig into my own neck.  Daddy and I then went back to Jeroch's for a while until it was time to go uptown.  There was supposed to be a funky band but it was mistakenly the night before.  We checked out Jackie-O's (O'hooley's took over the restaurant next door and connected the back decks).  It was a cool scene, but the music sucked, so we just strolled around and got our buzz on!!  I was whooped (not used to the Athens way of life) and ended up passing out on the most comfortable futon of the trip at Jeroch's.  Mark slept outside in the hammock, even w/ it raining and chilly!!  We woke up (early as usual when I'm w/ the old foggies), and wandered into town to get some Casa b-fast.  I had the usual Veggie Rancheros and homefries, and LOTS of coffee to offset the night before.  We went out to Jame's house again and played pinball and hung out for a few.  We then went to Jame's pilates studio next to family oxygen.  It was lime green and full of interesting equipment, most of which we all made fools of ourselves on.  James and Curina are a classic couple and both had their own ways of looking at things/teaching.  Curina taught me a few moves, but was a touch to impatient w/ me, but undoubtedly b/c it was my first time and she was throwing all the advanced stuff at me!!  I realized how much I favor my R side.  It was cool to see my dad getting worked out by James!!  We then went Paw Paw hunting until dark and checked out James's house (undergoing major work- has a basement now, expanding off the back side of the house and putting in stairs to the basement).  It was a quick visit but meant a lot to me.  I love that town and the remaining few people I know!!  I even ran into Marissa my old neighbor who is just finishing up PT school and wants to become a traveler.  Definitely a "meant to be" trip!!  I slept the whole way home!!!

Got in bed at around 1:30.....feel bad for my daddy!!  Got woken up at 7:30 by my mama.  She came and got me, then we walked in the woods for a minute before joining Gramps and Phyllis at Ruby Tuesdays.  We finished off the visit w/ some more wandering and chatting in the Metroparks.  I got my plane early (no line at all), and made it to Houston w/o a problem.  Now I'm finishing off the day w/ a 4 hr flight to Seattle from a lightning storm in Houston.  Another chapter in life.....written......

So great to see the family and get a good dose of love infusion.  Can't wait to charge into this next phase....re-invigorated!!  Nelson w/ Lily?  PA w/ myself?  Traveling some more?!!  We'll see!!  

Richland Wrap-up

Well......I completed the Richland, WA assignment.  The last week of work was a blur, seeing as I got back in semi-late (as usual) on Monday and never really felt like I caught up on sleep.  I also did a poor job of packing right up to the last minute.  Luckily for me I took a load to Port Angeles (PA) last weekend, b/c it was a 2/3-3/4 load again this time.  I never seem to realize how much stuff I have until I try to pack it into my truck.  Living w/ Faith Martin was nice and she gave me lots of space (was at her BF Bobby's a lot).  I never really hung out with anyone during the week, usually spending time after work plucking around on the computer trying to chart my next move, watching bike movies to keep myself stoked, or doing the Core Performance workout (which I gained a new respect for- if I could keep it up for the full 13 weeks I would be a BEAST!!).  I managed to not eat out once during the whole 13 weeks in the Tri-Cities.  I only went to the health food store for a frozen burrito or almond butter and jam the few times I didn't have left-overs or garden burgers to eat.  I was proud of myself for keeping up with cooking and eating mainly vegan and not packing on the pounds during a semi-sedentary spell (I was boarding and biking for 7 months before this gig!!).  It was kind of a bummer being hurt the past few weeks.  I nailed a tree on "Mechanical Tragedy" at the North Fork doing my fourth top-to-bottom run of the day.  I was really in the zone and just took my eye off the trail for a SPLIT second which was long enough to drift towards a tree, nail it with my fist first, then my shoulder, then my head.  It sucked!!  Three weeks later it still hurts.  I was silly enough to NOT go and get an x-ray.  Probably ligamentous damage anyways (fifth carpal metacarpal joint).  I needed a moment off the bike anyways as I was getting WAY too comfortable and riding faster than ever.  Something was bound to take me out and this is pretty minor compared to all the other injuries sustained by my friends this year- John Cooley- femur fx, Seth Esterby- collar bone fracture, Spencer- radius and ulna, Sam Burkhart- T6 fracture, Brad- wrist on GMG, Seth's GF Sherry- dislocated shoulder at Galbraith.  We do some pretty gnarly stuff!!  

Richland Nearly Done!!

Well, such as life, my time is nearing its end here in Richland, WA.  I have 2 weeks of work left (8 actual days of work) then ????.  I at least know that I'm flying home for a week to visit w/ the family, and hopefully getting to ride my MC a little bit (been YEARS!!).  I feel like I just unpacked my stuff after a mid-job housing change (for the much better) after my old roomie revealed her true colors.  That's another whole story, but to make it short.....I was forced out of the house (thankfully) by a vote while I was out enjoying myself over a weekend in Bham.  I was told to move out at 11PM after driving 5-6 hrs back "home."  I went to work the next day, tried to find a place to stay on "short-term" notice, was unsuccessful, went back, packed my stuff in a hostile environment, and ended up sleeping on top of a bunch of boxes in the hospital parking lot!!  Funniest part of that story is that my alarm went off while trying to sneak out of the van amongst all the people showing up for work!!  Luckily, I found a place to stay the next day w/ a news anchor woman named Faith Martin.  Super nice woman who plays in a band, has horses, and a nice house to herself.  What a change for the better that was!!  She's healthy, doesn't smoke, and doesn't have a mystery side to her!!  I spent one weekend unpacking and taking care of odds and ends that I normally shirk.  It's a good feeling to get caught up on stuff that you've put off forever!!  Now I'm looking at the pile of boxes in the corner of my room and wondering why I've been dragging around a bunch of stuff that I REALLY don't need.  I think the plan is to take that stuff up to Tonasket and store it at Lily's dad's house.  I really need to make that happen so that it isn't such a cluster to move every time!!  Plus I can sneak up to Kelowna and ride a bit!!  Speaking of which.....I'm not riding right now!!  I hurt my hand a couple of weeks back after having the Bham gnar-fecta (Tower of Lies on Sat, 4 Deadfall and 2 Dirt Renyolds on Sun, and 2 6-mile top to bottom laps on Monday, plus trail building on Lower Sasquatch w/ Ben and Woods).  On Sunday I was RAGING on Mechanical Tragedy (the bermy section) and happened to glance up for a millisecond.  That glance sent me into a tree next to the trail which I punched w/ the outside of my fist, shoulder checked, then slammed my head into it too!!  It stunned me pretty good, but I pushed back up and rallied through the rest of the run (including 10% right away!!).  I kept riding the rest of the day and the next day, but that next week it really started to hurt, especially in the AM.  I did some mobs on it and it started to feel better.  Then I went and rode Eagle Mtn in BC w/ Brad Walton to shred some of the best trails around and shoot photos.  We KILLED IT!!  Funny thing....as we were dropping into Massage Therapy we ran into a group of two guys and a gal that did NOT look like they belonged riding what they were about to!!  We hung out and enjoyed some parking lot finds, and then progressed to rip MT a new one!!  That trail is super tech and fun!!  We stopped and shot the rock roll to off camber techy log ride to step up onto the rock which has been broke all the other times we were there.  It was still broke, but we propped the step-up enough to hit it!!  Brad gave it first, then set up the remote flashes.  I hit it 3x, the last of which was a bit sketchy (leg flapping in the breeze).  I rallied through the next section pretty fast and forgot how gnarly it really is!!  We charged the whole first lap like it was our business, then pushed back up the gnarly jeep road (that had fresh tracks!!!!) and got ready for round 2.  Lots of skinnies and tech riding brought us tons of joy and smiles!!  We were riding really well!!  We pushed back up and found the move Brad REALLY wanted to shoot (a rock face that you roll down, then drop 10+ ft off of).  I hit it three times and he hit it once.  We got some pretty cool pics!!  I think it had been hit once before.  We finished off the lap and made it back to the truck in one sweaty piece!!  We rolled back to Bham and threw down at Boundary Bay before crashing across the street from Brad's (w/ Lily who showed up late).  The next day I blew off riding The Towers to try to let my hand start healing.  I think it was the right move b/c it hurt ALL WEEK LONG (more than the first week).  We spent the day roaming around Bham (had breakfast at Mike and Meredith's, espresso at Tom's, shopped at the co-op), then out to Glacier to hang out w/ Jerry for a minute.  He's building a nice deck off the back of his house.  We then booked it to the "coal pad" to check out Jack and some kids tearing up the skatepark.  We then spent the night up at Artist Point after mowing down like royalty at Grahams.  We ran around on top of the world and took some pretty sweet slow shutter speed pics.  We woke up the next AM and went on a hike toward Table Mtn before being engrossed in blueberries.  We picked 1.5 liters worth before heading back down to the truck.  We booked it back to the Ham and had some lunch at the Public Market before heading over to Brad's where we split up our stuff and switched vehicles (the Previa stalled at a light a couple of times which it had never done).  It was kind of weird getting back in the ol' Yota and driving her a good distance (it's been a bit!!).  It was a good thing though b/c the Previa started to give Lily fits after getting off the ferry.  She got pulled over by the hwy patrol for doing 40 in a 60 and driving over the white line.  She said it sounded like it was running on 2 cylinders.  It BARELY made it to PA......therefore I would have been stuck hours from home!!  Man......things DO work out for a reason sometimes!!  Now just to find that elusive, cheap, well maintained used rig that has 4wd/AWD!!!  That's my mission today after sleeping in to 11am for the first time in ages!!  I guess I did stay up late last night talking to Laura at work.  She has some amazing insight and helped me make some professional goals.  I have a lot of work to do!!  Clear up my tarnished credit, pay off my medical bills, pay off my student loans, try to buy a house since the market is crazy low right now, try to open my own practice, try to get more credentials so that I have a more solid referral base, etc, etc, etc.  Man!!  Life is complicated!!  And I have it pretty easy!!  

Richland update

Well, it's been quite a while since my last post. Life is....as usual...crazy. I've been working here for nearly 8.5 weeks and time sure does fly!! I've been back to Bellingham most weekends w/ some trips into BC as well. Brad, Lindsay, Chris (from Bend, OR), Lily and I went up and rode Mt. Fromme and Mt. Seymour a few weeks back. We did Upper Oilcan (haven't been on that in a while!!), then we split up and Brad, Chris, and I went up and rode GMG (first time!!). It was indeed gnarly!! Super fun steep natural terrain for the first bit, then into the stunts that characterize the trail. Some were broken, including the super steep staircase and a logride to drop, but we were still able to squeek in most of the moves. I hit the skinny to teeter to boulder to drop move first go (Brad got a sweet pic of me), then fell off the skinny second go (for more pics), and finally got it again the third go. The skinny was shaky even to walk on!! We rode the long log ride to drop, the skinny to turn to skinny drop to steepie ledges (Brad hooked his front tire on a big rock and went down pretty hard.....sustaining a broken wrist?!!). We even ran into some hikers towards the end!! They were as surprised as we were to see each other!! We got down a bit late as the ladies were waiting around a bit (whoops!!). We then hit up Seymour and rode CBC to corkscrew to Pangor/Pingu. Fun as usual. Brad and I were just absolutely CHARGING that lap!! Brad and I got shuttled up again and rode some "Darkside trails" that just RULED!! We rode Hangman and a new loamy-ass bottom trail that made us laugh out loud and high five each other a LOT!! Man if only I had a helmet cam!! We went to the Raven's Den for some pub food and beers (well deserved!!). What a day!!!

Lily and I also went to Whistler last weekend and checked out Crankworx (kick off). It was a hoot and my bike didn't blow up this time!! We made it to Bham on Friday, met up w/ Steve-O, and rallied to BC the next morning-ish. That was after Daron f'd up my bike late-night style in Seattle. I showed up in Bham at nearly 2am!! Tom got us all jacked up on amazing espresso the next morning and we buzzed our way through the border and up Rt 99. The two lane expansion made the drive fly by!!! We ripped the park up pretty good the first day, checked out some skatepark action that night (ran into David Toutain again....killing it on his board as usual!!). The next day Lily had a serious break out day and warmed up on No Joke (double black from the TOP), and didn't stop all day. She wasn't just making it through, she was KILLING IT!! I ran into Chris from London and we did a few hot laps together. Steve-0 and I snuck off and rode Trespasser (WOW!!), and we both had a few hoots!! It rained Sunday night and Lily and I bailed back to Bham on Monday, and chilled out that night and Tues AM. I made it back to Pasco (after moving out of psych Tracy's house the week before....whole other story!!) at a reasonable time (for once). Ahhhh yes......only 5 more weeks to go before.....??????

Thurs June 25th, 2009

Did the "stop by the old jobs" day....first to Excel PT (and the walk in clinic on the first floor....too bad the bitchy front office princess was rude enough that I decided to go somewhere else).  Then I did a bunch of housekeeping duties (paperwork for this next travel assignment).  I finished up the evening by meeting w/ Brian Weeda for some beers at Boundary Bay (mmmmm....IPA).  Good rest day.....got some work done....also ran into Bob Curtis, DC at his clinic which is around the corner from J St.  He's a cool dude and has a good thing going on- working up at Baker teaching skiing and maintaining a practice.  

Friday June 26th, 2009

Woke up and ate granola and had a soy latte.  Headed over to St Joe's for a walk in physical and found out that they are only a walk in clinic on the weekends.  Over to the Guide Meridian and the Care Medical Group.  I had a young PA who did a very minimal physical and filled in my paperwork for a mere 105$  I hung out w/ Clayton for a few then went over to Fanatik for some chain lube and ran into EB who proposed working on Scorpion and then riding/shuttling Galbraith.  Shawn jumped in and we threw down on totally overhauling a berm on the trail.  I wish I had a before and after.  We really moved a lot of dirt.  Shawn and I did a run down Scorpion which has a bunch of new jumps.  Then we rode the luge.  A new jump on the trail claimed Shawn's shins....when he cased the jump he took the pedals into the shins....bad.  He took a few minutes to smart, then we kept going.  Eric met us at the bottom and we rallied back up for another lap on Evolution.  I'll tell you what....drinking a beer before riding isn't such a great idea.  I was not feeling super dialed and definitely didn't set any personal records on the trails....but I DID have lots of fun.  We retrieved his Subaru w/ the Previa and I was again pleasantly surprised by the ability of the Previa to billy goat up some water bars.  

Saturday June 27th, 2009

Rode the Snake w/ Joel.  Ate shite often and early.  Stuck the hip stepdown over the stump at the bottom w/o looking at it.  Had a good time chatting it up w/ Joel.  He's a really nice guy once he opens up.  It was cool getting to see a slightly different side of him.   Too bad I was a walking shit show on the first trail.  Oh yeah.....my elbow hurts!!  Hello Lily!!

Sunday June 28, 2009 

Woke up in Bham on J st w/ Lily.  Ate a dank breakfast and cruised by Dana and Monica's (watched some soccer) and then cruised out to Woods' house.  Shuttled Woods and Lily on Thompson Creek, then twice on 3 mile.  Met Wood, Wood's brother and his daughter.  Stopped by Luca and Jimmy's house and did a little work trade w/ Luca (ankle neuroma or bursitis).  Made my elbow feel much better (between that and Lily working on it for a while).  

Monday June 29th, 2009

Woke up leisurely w/ Lily around 9:30 and began the packing process.  It took a bit longer than anticipated (as usual), and I was out of Bham by 3:00.  We pitched a bunch of old clothes and I took a snowboard jacket to the consignment shop where he gave me 30$ of credit and I got a pair of sunglasses with it.  I chatted w/ my mom and dad and Dolan on the way to Richland.  Funny thing....the time flew by!!  It surely didn't seem like a 5 hour drive!!  I did get stuck briefly in Seattle rush hour which sucked (glad I'm not THERE full time!!) but smooth sailing the rest of the way.  I had a really powerful conversation w/ Dolan, who told me that she's getting very weak and is dealing w/ a lot of pain from the cancer.  She told me it's tiring to bend over and pet her dog/water the garden/drive.  She said it's very hard to swallow food and she gags a lot while trying to eat.  She lost 10# since her last check up.  She lives alone and just recently got power (still no cell service/high speed internet).  She sounded really strong in spirit and we reminisced a lot on old memories.  She told me how proud she was that I became a doctor of PT (not her first guess!!).  We also talked a lot about traveling and how you choose to live your life.  She convinced me that my travels/goofing off really helps build my spirit and that I should continue to follow my heart.  I asked her if she had any revelations about things she wanted to do before she died....she stated that she wanted to help more people out who are dealing w/ similar circumstances/ less fortunate people.  It's amazing to be self-less when as she described it "her mortality has been so close that it's been on the tip of her nose a couple of times recently."  She is hoping that Cynthia can get out and visit her (a few of her friends had talked about doing a roadtrip to NM).  She told me that New Mexico is so special to her that it's the first place she's been truly homesick from.  Cleveland "scared her."  She thinks she would have passed on by now if it wasn't from the natural beauty right out her back door, the strength the land gives her to continue on.  It was a very beautiful conversation.  I told her how much we (my family) loves her and how we're totally behind her.  I also told her to keep strong and try to juice as much as she can!!!  She sounded intrigued by the PH Miracle book and I'm sending her a copy as soon as I unpack.  Speaking of which......I'm at my new home.......4820 Holly Way, W. Richland, WA.....98353.  Living with a woman named Tracy.  She wasn't home tonight and I unpacked in her neat and comfy home.  The biggest bummer today......seeing a nice puddle of oil under the van where I had parked it on her driveway.  Must have done a little damage yesterday when I shuttled Lily and Woods up Thompson Creek Trail in Glacier.  Neither the 87 yota or the 92 Previa seem totally dialed right now.  Might be the time to finally buy another rig?!!  Going to crash out now so that I can be rested for the orientation day at Kadlec Medical Center.  Haven't had to get up at 7 AM for a while!!  Or work for that matter....hope I can hold it together!!!

Tues June 30, 2009

Woke up a bunch of times (as usual in a new place w/ first day of work on the mind) before 7 am.  The daybed my roomie Tracy was nice enough to supply was comfy but did not have an inch to spare in length!!  I drank a cup of coffee that was luke warm (pulled the kettle too early) and scarfed some semi-stale granola.  Headed off to Kadlec Medical Center through the back streets (Bombing Range Rd...yikes!!) to 240 to 224 and into the city of Richland.  Found the HR building and got there a bit early.  Began taking the very boring modules (safety, fire, workplace violence, infection control, etc) and the tests that ended each section.  Passed them all first go and proceeded to get my badge.  Over to Anovaworks for a mask fit (in case an outbreak of TB etc was to occur).  Checked out the PT clinic afterwards......quite a contrast to all the places I've worked so far.  Maybe 3 treatment rooms and a gym area.  Speech, OT, PT, and Massage all under one roof.  Should be interesting to work in such a hustle bustle clinic.  They have around 30 PT's on board!!!  I will likely have to cover some inpatient days (never have since I graduated)....should be interesting to rehab stroke patients, TBI, SCI, etc.  Might be able to get out of it though as 2 more travelers are due to show up on the 10th of July.  So much for me getting relieved early and moving back towards Seattle as John Burke, CEO/VP had promised me.  Everyone seemed nice (as usual in this field) and I didn't have too much apprehension about working there.  Hit up the grocery on the way back home and bought myself a bunch of good food to keep me rolling.  Then I went home and checked my balance online.......93 cents!!!  YIKES!!  Doesn't look like I'll be going anywhere until I get paid!!  Took a leisurely afternoon nap, then chatted w/ the neighbors Bettie and John.  We hung out in the front yard and talked some shop, crawled under the Previa and found the oil pan leak, washed car/bike, and just kicked it suburbia style.  Made a delicious pizza and began converting Tracy to the healthy side of things (unlike this AM when she had a Pepsi zero and 2 smokes before I finished breakfast).  Did some internet surfing and began unpacking my stuff in my BR.  Day one of "real work" tomorrow......told it'll be a couple of days of orientation in inpatient (which I'm hoping I won't have to do!!).  Stay tuned folks.......

Sunday, July 5th, 2009

Well, inpatient rehab it was......all week....and you know what?!  It was actually pretty cool.  I like helping people out and boy do they need it!!  There's something about being really jacked up that makes people appreciate things a bit more.  And surprisingly the pace is not as break neck as outpatient orthopedics can be.  Maybe the occasional inpatient stint won't be so bad!!

June 22, 2009

Monday, June 22, 2009

After realizing riding bikes was a wash again (rain), Lily and I made our way from Woods house (Quantum Solace, omlettes, and Graham's coffee).  We stopped by Jerry's house but nobody was home.  We hung out at Mike's house in Bham for a few (he was actually there).  It sounds like he's going to move in w/ his GF (Rose) in a month or so.  He's pretty stoked to be changing it up a bit (instead of construction he's going to do EMT courses and accupuncture school in the fall).  We busted over to the public market for sushi and ran into Jeff Counts.  He looked a lot different from the last time I saw him (went w/ Jerry to S. America and had a vision quest, etc).  Now he's getting into reflexology and has a client base around Bham.  After a brief chat it's discovered that he's going to a sweat lodge tonight.  Seeing as I've been having a lot of challenges lately making up my mind as to my best course of action I thought it would be a good time to get inside my own head and let out some impurities.  And it was just what the doctor ordered.  Meeting lots of nice people, learning about their intentional community and huge gardens/shared housing.  Then we sweated our asses off!!  Adam, a local native american directed the sweat and did a great job of inspiring song, prayer, and a sense of wellness and connectedness.  It got pretty intense a few times and I had to get as close to the ground as possible a few times (we were squished in the lodge like sardines!!).  Nita, 73,  was the elder in the lodge, and did a much more brave job of taking the heat than myself who had to get out at the optional intermission twice to pour cold water over my throbbing head.  What an incredibly brave woman!!  I put out a lot of intention and prayer into the atmosphere so I hope you all felt it!!  We all went inside Mike's house (owner of 4 loaves pizza in the public market) and had miso soup w/ greens and rice, strawberries, salad, delicious homemade cookies and lots of water!!  I spoke w/ Deena about rolfing as she is starting the program early in July!!  She had a few leads for continuing ed (Mike in Bham and Russ).  I'll try to follow up with those guys, but first things first.  Tomorrow I get to deal with a urinalysis and a pile of paperwork so I can start this travel job in Richland, WA on time next Monday.  Should be fun....stay tuned!!

Yesterday was pretty crazy.  Here are some pics to prove it.  New trail called Sonar....get it....so....gnar!!  Only one good crash (on last move....overshot and landed in soft dirt that tossed me over the bars (OTB).  

Catch up (again!!)

Where to begin?  Rode Glacier and the N. Fork w/ Andy.  We met Woods at Grahams after running into Jerry on the way to the trails who warned me about him.  Andy and I went and played frisbee golf with Woods until near dark.  We stumbled into a BBQ at his neighbors Jidiaa.  Andy took off back to Vancouver and I ended up staying at Woods and Jack's place in Glacier on Check Rd for the past week.  Lily came down last weekend and rode Deadfall for the first time on Sunday.  She really liked the Iron Horse Sunday, and because I banged myself up on Sasquatch she was able to rip on it most of both days.  Jen and Pete from Mammoth bumped into us at the top of 6 mile (how random is that?!!).  We ripped and they ended up hanging out and riding the N. Fork the next day after I took them down Sasquatch at the end of the day.  We had a ripping time at the Fork and ran into Cam from Transition, Jessie Emery (and his Toyota monster truck), Thad,  Brad, Linsey, Sam and his GF, and a couple from Idaho (Britney and John).  Good laps were had by all.  Brad, Sam, and I took a raging fast lap down Deadfall, and Brad followed me into all the new gap jumps before 10%.  We had a raging good time!!  Woods, Andy, and I went and did the Tower of Lies on Lookout Mtn from the T-O-P!!  It required a solid 2 hr bushwhack through gnarly vegetation, plant tunnels, and lots of log clamoring.  Woods bitched a good amount of the time how we were TOTALLY off the trail and how we were going in the wrong direction even after we had the towers in plain sight.  Andy almost tried to turn back since he had his truck at Les Schwab and need to be back before six (yeah right!!).  Luckily for all of us we hung it out and got the goods!!  It was as rad as I had remembered and had the extra top part that we bushwhacked through w/ chainsaws previously.  It turned out great and had a few distinct steepie sections.  Then came the jumps, drops, etc.  What a great trail!!  We pushed back up and did Retarded Awesome, the Snake, and the rad jumps at the bottom.  I even hit Medusa second go (crazy tech woodwork into drop off logride).  I thought I was on a roll, then I stepped up to the 30' hip stepdown over the stump.  First go......funky in the air and had the bike wash out when I landed.  I jumped up and realized I was alright and progressed to hit it 3 more times.    Forgot you had to really hip it out to hit it smoothly.  

We then hit up the Woodlot the next day.  Woods got a little spooked on the Gate and had to get his flow going on Crazy Carpenter.  He made it through the stump move after the woodwork corkscrew although he couldn't linked the whole move.  Then we went to Blood Donor and I had a look at the road gap.  It looked more do-able then ever and I had a go at it.  From the top of the short trail I pedaled to get my speed going, scooted up onto the platform, then at the moment of truth I gave it another solid pedal stroke and launched off the end of the ramp.....18'ish out and 18'ish down.  It felt bigger once I got into the air!!  Thankfully I landed smoothly and had plenty of time to slow down before the berm that I was worried about.  I ran through the woods to give Woods a high five and fell over a log.  I didn't care......I couldn't stop laughing!!  We progressed onto the next hip jump and Woods went OTB pretty good right in front of me.  He popped up screaming about a torn shoulder but was just talking smack, and pushed back up to hit it again.  He got a sick pic of me on it.  We raged Platinum and Heckle and Jeckyll.  I nailed everything and Woods had a good show as well seeing as it was all new to him.  No getting searched going into the US on the way home (just going into Canada). 

Rest day yet?  Nope.  Just more riding Glacier, partying, and hanging out w/ all the local yocals- Robby and Ben, Dan, Matt-squatch, Jidiaa, Toch, Tucker, Randy, etc.  A constant turnstile of locals rolling through to say wud up and chat for a few.  It was harder than you'd think to drive 3 minutes away and go riding!!  We fell into the nearing biking phase around 12 or 1.  And that was getting up around 9 or so!!  Some days we didn't get to the trails until 5!!  One morning we went over to the blue barn on the property and realized there is one of the sickest skate bowls I've ever seen at a private residence.  We rode Wood's yellow dirt jump bike and it was a HOOT!!  You could get going soooooo fast just by pumping the bike up and down around the berms.  Lily even got in on the madness and before long was raging around the bowl w/ the fooomp foooomp that emanates as a rider gets going fast.  I even built a new jump at the base of Glacier w/ help from Woods and a couple of the local kids who had built the previous structure in its place.  The day before I had hit the step-up to step-down a few times and knew it was rickety.  Then it nearly fell over one of the goes and I promptly pushed it over.  Then I felt compelled to put something back up so I went off piling up logs and dialing in the angles and distances.  The next day we came back thinking that 30-40 min of digging would complete the project.  Try a couple more hours.  We put a LOT of primo dirt on the run in, takeoff, and landing.  It came out sweet if you ask me.  I hit it a bunch of times and walked away happy w/ my work.  

Over the past weekend (13th through the 15th) Lily joined Woods and I in Glacier.  We rallied Glacier on Sat/Sun and N. Fork on Monday.  Lily stepped up her game big time and rode the daunting 6 mile trail in Glacier.  It's basically a free fall of steep loamy trails for a LONG time, with the occasional devious tight corner thrown in for amusement.  Fortunately (or unfortunately) she didn't have a bad wreck the first time, so she felt a bit more confident trying it for a second time with less hesitation.  This meant two things:  1. She's going a LOT faster and 2.  She tried some of my "lines."  I heard a good huh-uhhhhhhhh, thump, thump, groan.  I leap back up the trail to find Lily tangled in her bike face down on the steep "hill" side.  She took a good over the bars (OTB), landed on her chest straight from a steep root ball roll in, and tumbled a couple of times before stopping (thankfully b/c the terrain got a LOT um.......cliffier below).  She shook it off after a few minutes (one tough chick) and we continued down (85% of the trail to go!!).  One more bike skidding sideways over a steep rock wreck and she rode the rest of the trail smooth.  It's tough mentally AND physically to get right back up after a gnarly wreck with pains everywhere and get into the mindset that you're going to try EVEN harder, flow EVEN smoother, and NOT wreck again.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.  

Monday was a great day at the Fork.  Lily rode Deadfall a good few times (the top steepest trail there) and Woods followed me off some HUGE jumps.  We rallied Moto a couple of times to finish- including Woods blind descent onsight of Happy Ending, the new jump trail.   We went to the N. Fork Brewery/Pizzaria and threw down on some delicious pie and pints!!  

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Ramble into Bellingham from my stay in Glacier.  Life is good.  Things are simple.  Then I call my recruiter to try to work out a new traveling position in the Seattle area (which has been ongoing for the last few months).  With a smoothie in my hand and a smile on my face I'm told that I was mistaken about the location and that I'm ACTUALLY 5 hrs east of Seattle in the middle of the desert!!  No wonder nobody wants to take a permanent position there!!  As I speak to her about the miscommunication she starts getting all emotional and basically gives me the ultimatum that I have to take that position or we can no longer work together and that the company would black list me.  Not one to be threatened I calmly make my case to undoubtedly blind ears.  I know she's under a ton of pressure to fulfill her duties, but I got the bait and switch-arooni!!  I said screw it and went and rode one of my favorite trails of all time- the Snake!!  Woods and I charged up to the towers and rode from the top down!!  We rallied the trail and took a couple of schweet pics!!  Then we got all Retarded Awesome and Woods followed me down the vaunted Wood-rock-wood move that rolls STEEP and you have to thread the proverbial needle in order to ride away in one piece.  We both rolled the steep stump roll into the 25' road gap.  Woods was jumping up and down and hugging me after we stopped!!  What a line!!  Then came the Snake proper and we got all wild on the steep, sometimes off camber rock rolls.  I nailed the Headwall (my nemesis on the Snake) again w/o too much terror.  Then we rallied the Ridge trail and both Woods and I hit the Chief....a 60' rock face that ends into a steep runout, then a jump, fast berm, and onto a woodork stunt that has some skinnies on it.  Ace move overall!!  We rallied into the 30'+ hip stepdown and I rolled in.  Too bad I turned my bar the wrong way in the air because I got all out of balance and ended up sticking my R foot into the ground straight and away, then to my R side for the rest of the energy dissipation.  Worst part was that I slammed my shin again (deep bone bruise), and scuffed up my R side.  We kept going then I tried Medusa the silly techy woodwork stunt that distorts reality.  I fell off mid-way and my bike ended up in some 8' deep hole hidden in the bushes.  And I jacked my shin again.  I got kind of pissed, stormed back up to the trail and rolled down the trail.  The last trail is just an amazingly flowy jump trail w/ jumps into and out of huge berms, hips, whips, step ups, downs, and a creek gap to boot at the end.  It goes by effortlessly (a nice change seeing as how the last couples zones went) and we're pedaling back to the van before we know it.  That's the way freeride mountain biking compares eerily to life- a fury of commotion then it's over- left wondering if that just happened!!  We get back to the van at 9 PM (started at 4).  We hit up the grocery, make some food at my old house on J Street, and I crash out happily as Woods and Meredith chat it up until 3 am.  

Wed, June 17th, 2009

First good night of sleep in a while.  It rained last night and I sunk into deeper sleep than I've had in a while.  Riding the Snake the day before probably didn't hurt....or the couple Sierra Nevadas.  I call Ardor Health to straighten out the whole "starting work on Monday in EBF" gig.  Got Craig (my agents boss) and he turned out to be an incredibly understanding brother who agreed the mix up was fair and we should find a way to CONSTRUCTIVELY work it out (not get all emotional).  That left me with a sense of fulfillment again and no imminent life decisions need to be made today.  I cleaned up the van (which reeks of sweaty bike gear) and caught up writing (hence this jibber jabber).  Time to rouse Woods from the couch (now 4:17 PM) and make something of this day.